‘Bless you, John. There is more than this, but we must be very careful. I would not want either of us to be caught.’
‘Of course not.’ He tucked the reliquary in his purse. ‘I know certain members of the clergy who will be very keen to have this in their collections and who will not ask too many questions.’
She nodded. ‘I intend leaving England with the children and joining William, but not in penury. It will be very difficult to gain access to our treasure at Waltham and the Temple Church, but I have other sources and not all the funds from my lands are reaching the Temple anyway.’
John blinked at her. ‘So where is it going?’
Joanna took her cloak from the back of her chair. ‘Come with me.’
He eyed her askance but stood up and put on his cloak and his hat.
‘I am worried about my mare, and I would value your opinion. I am not sure but I think she may be going lame on her offside hind leg.’
‘I trust this has a bearing?’
‘Oh indeed, yes. I would be so much happier if you would tell me what you think.’
‘Then by all means lead on.’ He gestured.
She took him to the palace stables where she was paying for the upkeep of several horses – her grey mare, her children’s mounts, and four good-quality palfreys. ‘Their care is a drain on my finances,’ she said, ‘but I do not want to sell them unless I must.’
Joanna entered the mare’s stall which was on the end, and of sufficient size to contain some barrels of feed with several horse blankets and empty wool sacks folded on top. She indicated the barrels. ‘If you were to delve under the oats by a foot, you would find silver and gold. Under the floor too. I have several cartloads of wool from the clips on some of my manors waiting for my ladies to spin into yarn to sell. The wool sacks shall be sorted and each one will eventually have wool on the outside and a heart of value at its centre. When all is in place, I shall leave and go to my husband.’
John stared at her, open-mouthed, and then he shook his head. ‘This is a very dangerous game you are playing.’
‘It is not a game,’ Joanna replied with cold fire. ‘I have never been more serious in my life. They want to take everything from me and I refuse to let that happen.’
‘But what if you are discovered?’
‘I will take the risk. William would have taken it if he were here, you know he would.’
John gestured in concession. ‘You are a brave and determined woman,’ he said with a mingling of admiration and misgiving.
‘I have no choice.’ She shivered. ‘I am desperately afraid, John – not only for myself, but for the children and William. If anything happens to him, I know I will be married off for nefarious purposes and my children taken into wardships God knows where – I know exactly how these things are manipulated for gain. I was lucky the first time, but now I am at the bottom of Fortune’s wheel and barely keeping my gown above the mud.’
‘I will not let that happen to you or my nieces and nephews,’ John said fiercely, ‘and neither will my brothers. Blood is still thicker than water.’ He kissed her cheek and then pretended for appearances’ sake to look at the mare’s leg. ‘You certainly need to keep an eye on it. I am glad you came to me. I have several remedies that might help the situation.’
‘I am glad to hear it,’ Joanna said. ‘I have been so worried about her.’
‘Leave it with me. I will come to you in a couple of days when I have dealt with the matter in hand, and in the meanwhile I will see what I can do about obtaining you some household funds through less clandestine ways.’
Over the following weeks, as autumn encroached, Joanna continued to make her preparations to leave England and go into exile with William. She set her ladies to spinning some of the wool from the sacks of fleeces that had arrived from her manors and arranged to sell the spun wool to go towards her living expenses. Quietly, steadily, some of the wool sacks were packed in the middle with bags of money, tightly wadded so that they would not move or jingle. John sold the reliquary, the candlesticks and the rings. She used a small portion of the proceeds to live on and hid the rest in the wool bales.
Still no money had been forthcoming from the allowance she was supposed to have, and once again Joanna prepared to face the court and seek her just dues. She had chosen her day carefully – one when Simon de Montfort was absent but her Bigod cousins present. John had already paved the way with them for this meeting.
Once again Joanna came to the hall as a petitioner and knelt before the King. He gestured her to her feet and welcomed her with a neutral expression, but knowing eyes.
Joanna straightened her shoulders. ‘Sire, you have known me since I came to court as a child, and I have always been true and obeyed your will. Now, I find through no fault of my own that I have been denied access to funds of any kind to run my household. I am reduced to running up debts and to asking friends to lend me money out of compassion and kindness. My women are spinning wool for pennies, but this should not have to be. I have a right and entitlement to the revenues from my estates during my husband’s absence.’
She paused to collect herself and calm her pounding heart.
‘I have heard it whispered that I am not to be trusted and that I shall send whatever I am given to my husband, but how would I do that? I would not know where to begin. All I ask of this council are the necessary funds to pay my way and give alms to the poor as I have always done. You know my loyalty is to you, sire.’
‘Indeed, I do know that loyalty,’ Henry said, and glanced at the impassive Hugh Bigod.
‘What threat am I to anyone?’ Joanna continued. ‘I wish only to support you. I ask for the full restoration of my lands and revenues which came to me through my mother’s hands and through my ancestors whose lineage has served you well and without blemish. Would they wish to see me begging in your court for justice?’ Her voice strengthened. ‘I have the documents and charters that prove my right in law to have my lands. I ask that these rights be properly implemented and put forward as an urgent task so that I may secure food for my children tomorrow. I ask in the name of God for this injustice to be put right through your command, my lord King.’
Joanna had not realised how much she had stored up inside her until she unravelled it before Henry, but while emotional, she had no tears. Drawing a deep breath, she knelt again at his feet. His skin was dry and cold under her lips as she kissed his hand, and his rings were loose.
